The subject matter of this disclosure relates to multifunctional document processing systems that enable selecting a particular region of a scanned page to be manipulated as desired, and particularly document processing systems that enable such manipulation through a user interface located on a multifunctional device, as opposed to software on a desktop computer.
Multifunction devices offer combined facsimile and/or digital scanning, copying, and printing in a single unit. Current multifunction devices are directly connected to a personal computer or workstation for scanning, copying, and printing to provide printing and to a telephone access line to provide facsimile transmission and receipt.
A multifunction device may be a scanner and a printer that have been integrated into a single unit. An important function of the multifunction device is the scanner. All of the available operations on a multifunction device rely on the image that is scanned into memory. For example, before a document can be faxed, copied or printed, a scanning operation must first occur so that the image can then be manipulated according to the selected function.
The scanning process is generally controlled by a software utility called a TWAIN driver. The TWAIN driver is used to set the scan quality and area of the scan function, as well as used to set paper type, size and image quality in the printer function. The driver can be accessed from within any software that supports TWAIN.
However, due to size and space constraints of multifunction devices, memory limitations, cost limitations, and the like, multifunction devices have weaknesses when compared to separate stand alone devices. For example, due to memory limitations, performance in scanning is often limited. One solution has been to utilize the performance characteristics of the attached personal computer or workstation to enhance the performance of the multifunction device. However, the necessity of relying on the personal computer or workstation significantly hampers the utility and mobility of multifunction devices.